- Hampton Court Palace
Historic Royal Palaces offer you Britain's top historic attractions.
Visitor information
Opening times
Mid-March to Mid-October
Mondays 10.15-18.00
Tuesday - Sunday 09.30-18.00
Last admission 17.15
Mid-October to Mid-March
Mondays 10.15-16.30
Tuesday - Sunday 09.30-16.30
Last admission 15.45
Hampton Court Palace is closed 24-26 December and 1 January. The gardens are open all year round
from 07.00 to dusk.
Admission prices
Adults
£10.50
Students and senior citizens
£8.00
Children under 16
£7.00
Children under 5
Free
Family Ticket
£31.40 (up to 2 adults and 3 children)
Shops and guidebooks
There are four shops at Hampton Court Palace all selling a wide range of books, guidebooks, gifts,
souvenirs, films and postcards. They all have their own themes and products, so do try and visit more
than one!
Bureau de change
A bureau de change is located inside the main ticket office.
Catering
There are two restaurants at Hampton Court Palace. Queen Elizabeth's Privy Kitchen, inside the palace,
serves tea, coffee, pastries, cakes, soup, sandwiches, light lunches and afternoon tea. The Tiltyard Tea
Room, situated in the palace gardens, has a coffee bar, self-service restaurant and outside terrace. It
offers a wide range of hot and cold drinks and meals throughout the day. There are also two kiosks in
the grounds selling soft drinks and ice creams.
How to get there
By car
The palace is located on the A308 close to the A3, M3 and several exits of the M25 London Orbital.
Parking is available.
By train
Trains run twice an hour direct from London Waterloo to Hampton Court Station. The journey time is
only 32 minutes and the palace is a 2-minute walk from the station.
By river launch
River launches run from Westminster, Richmond-upon-Thames and Kingston-upon-Thames.
By London Underground
Take the District Line to Vauxhall or Wimbledon to pick up the overland train to Hampton Court
Station. Alternatively, take the District Line to Richmond, then the R68 bus from Richmond station direct
to the palace.
By bus
Bus routes: 111, 216, 411, 415, 416, 431, 451, 461, 513, 727 and R68.
For more travel information, please see the Links page, which is available by clicking the
Home link in the bar below.
Hampton Court Palace has been divided into six routes or tours which help explain
how the building was used when it was occupied by the monarchy. This section
describes what you can see in each of the routes. Information on the courtyards
and cloisters and palace gardens is also provided here.
Henry VIII’s State Apartments
Henry VIII is probably Hampton Court’s most famous occupant and its first
royal owner. All his lavish private rooms were demolished in the early 18th
century but the two most magnificent public rooms still survive - the Great
Hall and the Chapel Royal, which is still a place of worship today.
The Tudor Kitchens
The fascinating but more practical side of royal life is represented at Hampton
Court by the enormous Tudor Kitchens, the most extensive surviving
16th-century kitchens in Europe. Today they are laid out as if a feast was
being prepared using all the food and utensils that would have been used in
the 16th century.
The Wolsey Rooms & Renaissance Picture Gallery
The palace is home to one of the greatest collections of Renaissance paintings
in England. These are housed in a series of small Tudor rooms, known as the
Wolsey Rooms, and in the Renaissance Picture Gallery. An exhibition on the
history of the Royal Collection is located at the start of the route. For
Mantegna’s Triumphs of Caesar see the Palace Gardens.
The King’s Apartments
King William III’s Apartments are the finest and most important set of
Baroque state apartments in the world. They are still furnished with the
magnificent furniture and tapestries which graced them in 1700 when they
were completed for the King. Today you see them restored after the terrible
fire of 1986. An exhibition under the colonnade in Clock Court near the
entrance to the King’s Apartments explains the restoration and the function of
the state rooms.
The Queen’s State Apartments
The Queen’s State Apartments took 30 years to complete and represent a
wide range of styles. Some of the most spectacular rooms in the palace can
be found here including the painted Queen’s Drawing Room with its
magnificent views over the gardens and park.
The Georgian Rooms
While the King’s and Queen’s State Apartments were built for the ceremonial
lives of the kings and queens of England, the Georgian Rooms contain their
more private rooms. Shown today as they were in 1737 during the final visit
of the royal court they present a more relaxed, informal and domestic side of
palace life.
Courtyards & Cloisters
The buildings of Hampton Court cover 6 acres and comprise many
courtyards and cloisters. One of the greatest pleasures of visiting the palace is
strolling around them admiring the harmonious blend of Tudor and Baroque
architecture and curiosities such as Henry VIII’s Astronomical Clock and
Cardinal Wolsey’s coat of arms in Clock Court.
The Palace Gardens
There are over 60 acres of gardens to explore at Hampton Court including
the Maze, the Great Vine and the newly restored Privy Garden. An exhibition
on the East Front tells the story of the gardens and explains the restoration of
the Privy Garden, opened in 1995. From the Privy Garden you can visit
William III’s magnificent Banqueting House and the Lower Orangery where
Andrea Mantegna’s Triumphs of Caesar are.
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